Ferrocene monomers, formation

Researchers turned their attention to applications of silica gel as a new electrode material. Silica gel, which has a three-dimensional structure with high specific surface area and is electroinactive in an aqueous medimn can be used as a support for electroactive species during their formation and/or enzymes by adsorption or entrapment [92,93]. Patel et al. recently reported application of poljwinyl ferrocene immobilized on silica gel particles to construct glucose sensors. Efficiency of carbon paste electrodes prepared with these polymeric electron mediators and GOx was comparable to electrodes constructed with other ferrocene based polymeric electron transfer systems. The fact that 70% of initial anodic current was retained after a month when electrodes were kept in the buffer at room temperature shows that polymerization of monomer vinylferrocene in the pores of silica gel and entrapping GOx in the matrix of poljwinyl ferrocene appears to have added stability to the sensors [94]. 

In subsequent papers Kutal et al reported that they found that ferrocene and ruthenocene (FeCp2 and RuCp2, where Cp is rj -CsHs) complexes will also photoinitiate anionic polymerizations of a-cyanoacrylate. They suggest that the mechanism of initiation by ferrocene is an attack on the monomer and formation of a radical anion through electron transfer... 

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